They auctioned off rowhouses in Baltimore in the 70s that are worth a fortune now.

That's because of inflated government, and it was 40 years ago. Do you think auto manufacturing or any other labor intensive industry is coming back to Detroit? Maybe people will go there for the climate.

The City of Detroit should be paying people to buy houses there. Property taxes provide a stream of funds to city's coffers -- real estate is not just an asset to the owner, it's an asset to the gov't, too.

14
posted on 05/03/2014 3:24:46 AM PDT
by Sooth2222
("Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of congress. But I repeat myself." M.Twain)

Nicole, on “Rehab Addi ct”, bought one, rehabbed it, even bought aso theren adjacent lot to turn into a community garden with the local kids as farm hands...

I’m wondering if she ever sold/flipped that house...or is she still stuck with it.

There was a Detroit renovation society/organization involved. I don’t know if they were a mandatory part of the process, or she used them just for historical input.

Also...

Anthony Bourdain did one of his “Parts Unknown” (?) shows in Detroit. He had a local taxi cab driver driving him around, giving history on the boom/bust of the city.

One of the main features of any of his shows is the local food, so there were scenes from eateries...including a home that a couple were selling food out of...with a grill set up in a vacant lot next door to grill up bbq, chicken, etc.

Main thrust of the program seemed to be that the city was healing itself.

It looks like the City of Detroit is raising the cost of its derelict homes. At one time they were selling them for $1.00 and now the price has gone up to $1,000.00. What were the improvements that caused the price to increase?

Seriously, before anyone would want to dump at least $100,000 into these “fixer uppers”, prospective owners should ask:

1. Are all liens against the property forgiven or waived (including back property taxes)? 2. Are the utilities still functioning to this residence; that is -- water, sewer, electricity, gas, telephone? 3. Are there any restrictions on “sweat equity” labor to fix-up this house part of the sale, or do all the renovations have to be done by union labor? 4. What about the building permits? How many and how much? 5. What about inspections? How many and how much? 6. After the work is completed, will the property be reassessed and at what rate? Will the rate reflect the blighted neighborhood where this house is, or will that be disregarded? 7. Will property taxes be waived or reduced during the rehabilitation process or not? If not, why not? 8. What city services will my taxes support and will I get them? [One reason why property and other taxes have gone unpaid is because the City of Detroit took the money and did not provide the services that taxpayers were paying money to receive.]

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